Category Archives: Thought

Our third blog on global challenges in business strategy looks at changing models of capitalism. With a 1980’s MBA and 30 years’ experience successfully developing my own and client businesses, you’d expect me to be used to applying SWOT and PESTLE analyses and Porter’s Five Forces. But today with the start of COP 24 in […]

For most of this century we have tried to be smart. Smart cities and smart economies are terms that have been thrown around to such an extent that there is now little agreement on their meaning. Yet their underpinning concepts are very important for any business and will significantly affect everyone. Why Smart is Confused? […]

Did you achieve a full summer break this year? Or did you go away on holiday and still replied to emails and made mobile calls? And did you fool yourself by saying that you’d only do this until 10am, but then kept looking at your phone? Or did you keep away and then get increasingly […]

Welcome to a series of practical thoughts on simple business processes affected by GDPR such as business cards exchange. Today what theorists would call processes related to business card exchange. The rest of us may do this without thinking. As a starting point we must consider all stages of a process before considering the impact. Often […]

England’s success in the men’s football world cup is a healthy reminder that this old saying is true. There were no big stars around which the youngest team needed to be moulded. While the way Gareth Southgate managed and communicated with his players and others spawned hashtags posing the question what would Gareth do in […]

Various words come into vogue and then get extended so they become meaningless. Entrepreneur is just such a word. In the last 20 years, it hasn’t been enough to run or own a small business what you needed to strive for is to be an entrepreneur. And then even large companies and public bodies started […]

I don’t know whether it’s the same with you, but I’ve never been so popular this last week. All my old friends and companies I’ve barely heard of are getting in touch to thank me and ask me to stay on their databases for the sake of GDPR. Some particular favourites stand out. Pseudo-phishers Companies […]

Only a fortnight to go before the May 25th GDPR deadline. Talking to organisations there is the expected flurry of activity to be compliant and the expected promotions offering solutions. So it’s a good time to remind ourselves what GDPR is trying to address. Data Breach GDPR is in part a response to the significant […]

As a Business Coach and Marketing Consultant, I often work in the strategic arena. Both of these roles require the ability to plan effectively. This means thinking through the issues that may arise so that the way forward is still clear, when the expected and unexpected occur. It also means recognising that no strategy ever […]

As a runner, I often train alone when I’m preparing for longer races. This is necessary and good. But it’s much more enjoyable when there’s the chance to run with others. Not only is the running easier with company to keep you going, but also you can have a good chat about truly anything. My […]